Like others no doubt, I really thought this might the season for Cambrian & Clydach Vale BGC to challenge again for the title at this level of football. It’s been nearly 8 years since their solitary Welsh Football League triumph and the club has undergone a massive transition in that time; the first team now enjoying the fruits of the seeds they began planting when their academy was set-up around a decade ago.
Last season was a breakthrough campaign for the Rhondda club, manager Dane Williams leading his charges to a 2nd place finish in what was then Welsh League Division one (it is now the Cymru South), a well-publicised run to the final of the Nathaniel MG Cup and the quarter-finals of the Welsh Cup. In the summer, attackers Leon Jacka and Sam Johnson were added to the squad and although they lost captain David Thomas and Joe Evans to Cardiff Met (Thomas has since returned to Clydach Vale), the balance of the squad looked good enough for a challenge.
After winning the first five league games it looked like my prediction was spot on but a barren run of form that saw the side win just once in 11 games during the autumn months saw them drop into mid-table. Three wins in four before this game had boosted their league position but there won’t be a title challenge this time around.
Their visitors, Cwmbran Celtic, are in real trouble. Although they have been a team that has held their own since they returned to the second tier of Welsh football three and half years ago, their league position has declined every season since a club record 6th-placed finish in 2017. The club haven’t really been able to stabilise on the pitch since Lee Challenger stepped down as manager last season. Former Monmouth Town manager Nicky Morgan tried but left the club last month with club playing veterans James Kinsella and Owen Cook currently overseeing a side languishing in the bottom three and at real risk of relegation.
Here it was evident to see why they are struggling, making little impact against a Cambrian side that are always strong at home; or they are when I visit. This was my 10th time watching Cambrian and this was the 9th victory they recorded with me in attendance and a combined aggregate score of 27-5. Maybe they should employ me as a full-time lucky charm, or at least try and do something about the weather! It always seems to either be raining or blowing a Baltic gale when I venture up to their 3G ground.
They didn’t let the weather dampen their performance here though, running out comfortable winners on the night. Sam Jones opened the scoring as early as the sixth minute and the Rhondda men never looked book back. Ryan Prosser – recently recruited from Merthyr Town – scored a brace to seal the victory, consisting of a superb individual effort in the first half and a fine finish to cap a lovely flowing team move on the hour.
Dane Williams may well be wondering what might have been had Prosser been signed earlier. The hitman has struck 5 times in 3 consecutive wins for Cambrian since he joined from The Martyrs and definitely seems to have brought a new dimension to the attack with his skill, physicality and ruthlessness in front of goal. The Cwmbran Celtic defence certainly had no answers to his threat and will no doubt hope to produce much better in the games ahead.
Match notes
21.02.2020
Cambrian & Clydach Vale BGC 3-0 Cwmbran Celtic
(Sam Jones 6′, Ryan Prosser 16′ 59′)
JD Cymru South
M & P Group Stadium, Clydach Vale
Attendance: c. 80 | Entry: £5 (free programme available online)
Jordan Forster 